and Words
Born on the wrong side of the ocean
With all the tides against you
You never thought you’d be much good for anyone
But that’s so far from the truth
I know there’s pain in your heart
And you’re covered in scars
Wish you could see what I do
‘Cause baby, everything you are
Is everything I need
Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.
It is New Year’s Eve 2018. Naturally, we decided to paint the town red and head to the Space Needle and spend time with hundreds of our closest friends in the bitter cold. Oh, of course we didn’t. We’re a simple bunch and we instead elected to go to the local 8pm showing of Aquaman. Yes, that’s what we do for New Year’s Eve.
We both thoroughly enjoyed the film. Traditionally I’m more of a Marvel guy when it comes to superheroes, but I found this film exceptional. However, the characters had depth (no pun intended); the film was visually stunning. Similarly, the actors, both Amber Heard and Jason Momoa, are really quite attractive. Yes, they’re both eye candy and no, that doesn’t diminish either as actors.
Although that said, I found it to be rather ironic that Momoa also plays Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones… Appropriately a badass and a king, but one that is afraid of water. Aquaman is afraid of water?! WTF?!
Truthfully, the stunningly prismatic visuals of the underwater scenes and the deep history of the characters in the plot of the film overwhelmed me. It’s seldom that you can see a rendition of something with such a long history as a superhero character that gives you a new perspective. I told myself that I would see the movie again, though not necessarily in the theater.
It was months later on a lazy weekend evening when I browsed the channels on cable… mindlessly for something interesting to watch while I continued puttering on my computer. Meanwhile, I was pleased to find that Aquaman was on. Subsequently, I restarted it and watched it from the beginning. However, this time got off my computer to watch the film.
It was as good as I remember it the first time. I find that upon each subsequent time I watch a movie I notice nuances that I missed in the past. There was one instrumental discovery this time; this time I listened to the music during the credits more carefully. The song that played during the credits was “Everything I Need”. The song is beautiful, and I’m intrigued. This time I elected to look up the soundtrack. The album has two renditions of the song. The film version and another version (track 18). Having just heard the film version, I elected to play the other version.
This track starts with piano notes playing softly as it leads acoustically into the vocals. Moments later, I hear her voice. The other rendition of the song doesn’t highlight the vocals quite like this one. There’s no mistaking that it’s the same voice, yet this one feels more personal and intimate. That voice was soulful. It was vulnerable. It was strong. Her voice was fragile. It was feminine. It was angelic.
I think was shocked me most was that it was unfamiliar. Her name is Skylar Grey, and I had not heard of her before.
Realistically there are many vocalists have with exceptional voices. I’m not musically trained so I really can’t attest to whether she possesses a unique talent. Maybe it was just the combination of the music, the words, and of course that voice. So, I searched for the video and played it.
We have all grown up with the expression, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” I judged. I failed. Miserably. This is what Skylar Grey looks like. Truthfully, I would’ve never expected that voice to be associated to that cover. Upon seeing her, I might’ve expected music similar to Lita Ford or Joan Jett. Simply put, Skylar has tattoos… a lot of them. In short, I would’ve stereotyped that she would’ve been in the hard rock genre, not beautiful, soulful vocals.
Having ink (tattoos) is pretty common now; it’s certainly more common than it was when I was growing up. I have many friends with ink. I’m inclusive; I’m progressive. Therefore, I believed that I did not pigeonhole them based on their appearance. However, I can’t deny that what my ears hear is incompatible what my eyes see; I can’t deny I have biases. What else do I think about people with ink?
In a similar way, this is the reason why the story of Susan Boyle is so interesting. In other words, it’s not just about the fact that she’s an exceptional singer; it’s the fact that no one expected it from her.
We’ve become considerably more attentive to biases about race and gender; well, at least some of us have. For instance, we reason that race and gender are immutable parts of who we are. Are we less tolerant about those of us who choose to look different? Should our appearance matter? Should it matter if I had long hair in a ponytail? Or a tattoo? Or body piercings? Would lack of any of these make me a better programmer? A better friend? A more empathetic or compassionate human? A more expressive writer? Do we judge the people who intentionally look different?
We all have preconceived notions of what something should be like; none of us are above it. In other words, we all have an unconscious bias… a blind spot if you will. If you don’t have one… you probably do, you simply don’t know what it is… or are in denial. You are either right-handed or left-handed; that’s a bias, we just don’t think of it that way.
Am I disappointed? Absolutely, but nothing to do with Skylar. I aspire to do better… to be better.
I judged a voice by its cover… and a beautiful voice it is. Apologies, Ms. Grey. You are awesome!
And if you should happen to like Skylar Grey, you should listen to her rendition of Stand By Me. Shivers! 🙂